Talk about San Francisco's renowned Museum of Modern Art and at some point, the conversation will turn to Mondrian: the artist, the paintings and, of course, the cake. It's what put the Blue Bottle Cafe at SFMoMA -- and pastry chef Caitlin Freeman -- on the map, but it's just one of scores of her art-inspired desserts. Each served at the cafe is tied to a work of art in the permanent collection or in a visiting exhibit. These are five of the most famous, and they're all featured, along with recipes and assembly instructions, in Freeman's new book, "Modern Art Desserts" (Ten Speed Press, $25, 216 pages).

The Mondrian Cake

Modern Art Desserts by Caitlin Freeman (Contributed)

Freeman's iconic cake was inspired by Piet Mondrian's Composition No. III. The cake is made from five batches of white velvet cake, with one tinted red, one blue, one yellow and two left in their natural state. The cakes are cut into long, narrow strips and assembled into a graphic pattern, with chocolate ganache as glue. Sliced, the cake looks just like Mondrian's work -- but edible.

The Mapplethorpe Banana

Robert Mapplethorpe's controversial photograph, "Man in Polyester Suit" -- or rather, unzipped polyester suit -- is not what you'd expect to find memorialized in a patisserie. But, Freeman says, "this shocking photo -- to my dainty constitution, at least -- was the one that I couldn't forget." Plus, it was summer, and a frozen, chocolate-covered banana is a classic warm weather treat. The treat was displayed in the cafe behind a witty sign, inspired by the Mapplethorpe exhibit signage: "Warning: This dessert may not be appropriate for all viewers."

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The Thiebaud Cakes

Wayne Thiebaud's famous Display Cakes was what inspired Freeman's career trajectory in the first place. Her trio of carefully frosted Thiebaud cakes -- pink, white and chocolate -- were shown at the cafe's press preview in 2009.

Warhol Gelee

It was the colors in Andy Warhol's "Red Liz" -- and the layered process silk screening entails -- that sparked this layered dessert, made of strawberry, rose milk and mint milk gelee.

Richard Serra Cookies -- Not

This cookie platter, inspired by Richard Serra's sculptures, may be the most famous and hilarious story in the Blue Bottle canon. The cookies -- a graham cracker, chocolate sable, gingersnap and a rolled tuile -- were supposed to be served with cocktail napkins bearing instructions for turning your dessert into a Serra-like sculpture. But when Serra caught wind of the platter, he nixed it in a series of events that has since been told and retold by other people so many times, the details are improving daily. There was a cease-and-desist order (Freeman's not sure it went that far). He made the bakers cry (no, but there was a really awkward conversation, and his wife was brooking no cookie nonsense). And the cookie concept was reconceived as an homage to sculptor Barnett Newman's Zim Zum I.

"Having Serra be mad at us -- we were sort of offended, but also delighted," Freeman says now. "I couldn't be more delighted with how it turned out. Now I have this sort of nemesis in Richard Serra, although all we wanted to do was turn his art into cookies." You can find the complete tale on Freeman's blog, Modernartdesserts.com.